Football Player's Death

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Football players know them as "gassers"- sprints up and down the field to build stamina. Sophomore Max Gilpin and his Pleasure Ridge Park teammates spentthe tail end of a three-hour practice on a sweltering August day inLouisville running the drill that is a coaching staple across thecountry, hoping to impress enough to earn varsity playing time thatfall. They sprinted 12 times in what felt like 94-degree heat,sometimes with helmets and pads, as the coaches pushed them to goharder and harder. It was a drill like those on many high schoolfootball fields, until Gilpin, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound offensivelineman, collapsed to the turf just 15 minutes after a teammatewent down. Three days later, the 15-year-old Gilpin was dead from heatstroke, with authorities saying his body temperature was 107degrees when he reached the hospital. Five months later, hisfirst-year head coach David Jason Stinson is facing a recklesshomicide charge, with a prosecutor saying the coach should haverealized a player could get heat stroke in such broiling weather. Harold Jarrard, whose grandson played on the offensive line, wasthere Aug. 20 and said coaches were shouting at the players,encouraging them to pick it up as practice wound down. "It was just a normal day of practice," he said. "They alwaysrun gassers at the end. It's a daily activity. Nothing wasdifferent that day. I never heard anything out of the ordinary. "You hear them being threatened every day, stuff like 'If youdon't straighten up, you're out of here.' It was just regular," hesaid. Interviews with witnesses and a review of filings in a civillawsuit brought by Gilpin's parents against the coaching staff,including depositions, Stinson's handwritten notes and weather logsfiled with the school, shed some light on what happened that day. For Brian Bale, who was watching his daughter play soccer on anadjacent field during most of football practice, the way coacheswere yelling at players was "appalling," he said in an e-mail tothe school district two days later. Bale declined an interviewrequest from The Associated Press on Friday. But he wrote in the e-mail: "Those coaches thought that theywere training young teenagers for the Navy SEALS team instead of afootball team. I never once in the time I was there saw anyoneoffered a water break. I did, however, hear the coach say numeroustimes that all he needed was one person to say that they quit theteam and all of the suffering and running and heat would be over." That's exactly what Kim Englert's son, David, did - quit thatday. David Englert said "Coach Stinson made the team run sprintsuntil someone quit," Gilpin's mother, Michele Crockett, said incourt filings. Heat exposure deaths happen occasionally in football from thesandlot to the pros, the most famous example being MinnesotaVikings offensive lineman Korey Stringer in 2001. Lawsuits havebeen filed in many of those cases, but it doesn't appear that acoach has ever been criminally charged. Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel declined to say why hechose this case for a grand jury. Stinson, a technical teacher atthe school who has been reassigned pending the outcome of the case,is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday. His attorney, Alex Dathorne, did not return calls from TheAssociated Press on Friday. Jarrard said Gilpin's death weighed heavily on Stinsonthroughout the season as the Panthers finished with a 4-4 record.The coach brought Gilpin's jersey to each game in tribute, thoughhe made no changes to his team's practice routine, according to hisnotes. "He's a real gentleman, he's got kids of his own," Jarrardsaid. "He lost a boy that day, too." Stinson is no stranger to hot August football training camps.The former high school and college offensive lineman played brieflywith the NFL's New York Giants. At the 1,900-student Pleasure RidgePark, he spent three years as the offensive line coach beforetaking over the team in January 2008. Stinson's weather log showed a heat index of 94 degrees aspractice started at 2:30 p.m. The index is a measure of how hot itfeels based on temperature and humidity. A small group watched the workout, including Gilpin's father,Jeff Gilpin, who sat next to Jarrard for most of the final twohours of the session, according to Jarrard and court documents. Practice began with players congregating in the locker roombefore moving on to weights and film review. They took the field at3:45 p.m. The team went through a variety of stretches and drillsfor about an hour before being given three water breaks in a30-minute period, the log shows. Then at 5:30 p.m. came the gassers. About a half-hour later, the first player collapsed, and Stinsonsent him to a nearby tree for shade and treated him with water andice packs, according to the coach's notes. Gilpin collapsed 15 minutes later, at about 6:10 p.m., as therest of the team headed for the shade tree for an end-of-practicemeeting. Assistant coach Steve Deacon called 911 when Gilpin stoppedresponding to ice packs and water. In the call, made at 6:17 p.m.,Deacon describes Gilpin as pale, with a "big rapid pulse." "Yes ... he's breathing ... yeah ... he's going ... kinda goingin and out on us though," Deacon said. Christina Spiva, the mother of another Pleasure Ridge Parkstudent, called Gilpin's mother a few minutes later. "You need to get here quick. He's been down here for a whileand I don't think they are moving fast enough," Spiva said. Crockett arrived at the school at 6:27 p.m. and found her sonlimp, with bloodshot eyes staring straight ahead, an ice packbehind his neck and a hose spilling water over the pack. Two peoplewere pumping his legs to "keep Max's circulation going," Crockettsaid. Crockett did not return calls to The Associated Press and aphone number found for Jeff Gilpin was not his. Paramedics arrived about the same time and made an unsuccessfulattempt at putting a tube down Max Gilpin's throat before rushinghim to the hospital, where he remained for three days before hedied of septic shock, multiple organ failure and heat stroke. Histeammate who collapsed was released several days later. Gilpin was one of six heat-related deaths in high school andcollege athletics in 2008, said Dr. Frederick Mueller with theNational Center for Catastrophic Injury Research at the Universityof North Carolina. More than 120 athletes have died under similar circumstancessince 1931.

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